EIA’s crude oil inventories

The EIA (U.S. Energy Information Administration) released its weekly crude oil (UWTI) (IXC) (ERY) (BNO) (RYE) (DTO) inventory report on October 5, 2016. It reported that US crude oil inventories fell 3 MMbbls (million barrels) to 499.7 MMbbls between September 23 and September 30, 2016. US crude oil inventories have fallen 26.2 MMbbls since August 26, 2016. They are now near January 2016 levels.

A Reuters survey estimated that US crude oil inventories could have risen 2.6 MMbbls between September 23 and September 30, 2016. The unexpected drop in weekly crude oil inventories supported crude oil prices on October 5, 2016. For more on crude oil prices, please read part one and part two of this series. In part five, we’ll see why US crude oil inventories fell.

US crude oil inventories by region

The EIA divides the US into five storage regions. Below are the changes in crude oil inventories for these regions from September 23 to September 30:

East Coast: a rise of 1.2 MMbbls to 15.4 MMbbls

Midwest: a rise of 1.1 MMbbls to 147.7 MMbbls

Gulf Coast: a fall of 4.3 MMbbls to 260.4 MMbbls

Rocky Mountain: a rise of 0.4 MMbbls to 25.6 MMbbls

West Coast: a fall of 1.3 MMbbls to 50.6 MMbbls

Impact of US crude oil inventories

US crude oil inventories hit an all-time high of 543.6 MMbbls in the week ending April 29, 2016. For the week ending September 30, 2016, US crude oil inventories were 8.3% higher than in the corresponding period in 2015. High US crude oil inventories pressure crude oil prices. To learn more, read US Crude Oil Prices Tested 3-Month Lows.